War of the Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession (16 December 1740-18 October 1748) was a war fought over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the Habsburg monarchy in Austria. After the death of Karl VI of Germany, it was argued that Salic law disqualified Maria Theresa, a woman, from inheriting the throne, and Prussia and France both sought to enforce Salic law to prevent Habsburg expansion. Great Britain and the United Provinces, traditional enemies of France, decided to side with the Holy Roman Empire, and war broke out when Prussia invaded the disputed Austrian-held region of Silesia. King Frederick the Great of Prussia succeeded in occupying Silesia and invading Bohemia, and he assisted Emperor Charles VII of Bavaria with holding off an Austrian invasion. On 11 June 1742, Prussia signed a separate peace with Austria after defeating them at Chotusitz, and Austria lost Silesia to the Prussians. Charles VII became the new Holy Roman Emperor, but Prussia's exit from the war and a lack of coordination between the French and Bavarian armies led to a string of Austrian victories, culminating in a defeat at Simbach in 1743. That same year, King George II of Great Britain personally oversaw a victory over the French at Dettingen in the last occasion in which a British monarch commanded troops in battle. However, Spain succeeded in grabbing territories in Italy while Austria was distracted by the French and, from 1744, the Prussian menace, and the Spanish defeated the British at sea during the War of Jenkins' Ear. In 1745, Prussia again made peace with the Allies, and the war was resolved by the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle. Prussia's control over Silesia was confirmed, Spain gained Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla in Italy, and France briefly gained the Austrian Netherlands, but Maria Theresa was confirmed as ruler of Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary (with her husband Francis of Lorraine becoming Emperor), and she regained Flanders from France. The war would leave the Silesian question unresolved, and the Seven Years' War broke out just eight years later.